Fiona de Londras

Is Israel’s Use of Force Against Iran Justified by Self-Defence? This morning, Israel launched a major military operation against Iran targeting its nuclear programme, including facilities, individual scientists and military leadership. In this post, I will provide...

Marko Milanovic, who I am sure must never sleep, offers an early analysis of legality in re Israel's attack on Iran. In short "Israel’s use of force against Iran is, on the facts as we know them, almost certainly illegal" www.ejiltalk.org/is-israels-u...

Trump’s use of the national guard against LA protesters defies all precedents Presidents have used the national guard before, but only to protect civil rights, not to deny the right to protest.

As things escalate further in California, have a read of @sineadmceneaney.com on historical precedents (or the lack thereof) here theconversation.com/trumps-use-o...

100 MPs have now signed NC20 to give women in England and Wales the human right women in Northern Ireland have to a safe and legal abortion. Swipe to see if your MP is one of them — and what to do if they aren’t! Here’s the petition: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/de...

Great Debates on the European Convention on Human Rights

You can now pre-order the second edition of Great Debates on the European Convention on Human Rights that I wrote with @fdelond.bsky.social. It covers many new things that happened since the first one including climate change cases, Russia’s expulsion and many more www.bloomsbury.com/uk/great-deb...

Police could search homes and phones after pregnancy loss | The Observer New national guidance suggests officers look for menstrual tracking apps or abortion drugs

Criminalisation of abortion causes undeniable and deep harms. If you thought it was merely an historical artefact in England please think again. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

If you were involved in any way in the Repeal campaign and would be interested in speaking with a US-based researcher who wants to understand the referendum--not just the simple narrative but inclusion/exclusion, pragmatism, pain, joy etc--please drop me a line here. All involvement is relevant.

This

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The Trump regime is now using US Attorneys to intimidate academic journals by sending them letters demanding they explain how they ensure ‘viewpoint diversity.’ Journal editors should be public about this and coordinate to refuse to comply with these fascist tactics.

Absolutely would have been fine with it being less enthralling TBQH

Vexed by Sex | Erin Maglaque A new history of how Christianity has met the problem of desire argues for more flexibility in proclamations on gender and sexuality.

An exquisite read to accompany lunch--theology, book history, social history, and critique in one tidy package www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Opinion | Trump Voters Love Him More Than Before. Four Conservative Columnists Pinpoint Why. More registered voters think America is on the right track than at any point since 2004, a new poll says. What does that mean about Trump?

"Republicans want a disruptive president, but who’s being disrupted really matters — and if it’s the government or institutions that many Republicans believe are hostile to them...rationalizing their own constitutional violations as fighting fire with fire" www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/o...

Columbia Yields to Trump in Battle Over Federal Funding Columbia’s agreement is a significant moment in the intensifying battle between Trump and elite universities.

US Schools “are watching Columbia with alarm; many fear a demand for similar concessions. Their primary concern: without freedom to follow their intellectual curiosity, the discoveries and innovations that fuel the U.S.’s economy will decline or even grind to a halt”.
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

Columbia Agrees to Trump’s Demands After Federal Funds Are Stripped The administration has moved to cut $400 million in federal funding to the university without changes to its policies and rules.

Worth reading these two pieces side by side www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/n...

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/n...

‘This Is Worse’: Trump’s Judicial Defiance Veers Beyond the Autocrat Playbook The president’s escalating conflict with federal courts is even more aggressive than what happened in countries like Hungary and Turkey, experts say.

"Norms of restraint, flipped on their head"

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/w...

I'm very keen on celebrating oneself ;)

Ukraine is Europe!
We stand by Ukraine.

We will step up our support to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight back the agressor.

Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.

Agreed. It'll also be interesting to figure out whether there's a pattern in avoidance--so are 'absolute' rights avoided where a case can be determined by assessment of a qualified right? does avoidance only happen where violation is otherwise found? etc. V interesting stuff from Alan.

This is a dangerous, cruel move that will result in entirely foreseeable physical and psychological harm.

Love it.

Anois teacht an Earraigh, beidh an lá dúl chun shíneadh,
Is tar eis na féil Bríde, ardóigh mé mo sheol...

Finally, spring arrives (at least for us Celts)

#imbolc

If this evening's launch at The Barber Institute of Fine Art is anything to go by, this book is a tour de force. I've just made my order and really look forward to learning much more about the artist and about the social histories of intimacy and domesticity in his art.

I’m very sorry to hear this. Like so many interested in how states work, I learned a great deal from his work

Keir Starmer must slap Elon Musk down - before someone gets killed This deranged, disgusting attack on Jess Phillips deserves a public rebuke, not just behind-the-scenes diplomacy

This deranged, disgusting attack on Jess Phillips deserves a public rebuke, not just behind-the-scenes diplomacy

This morning’s raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital has put this last major health facility in North #Gaza out of service. Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid. 60 health workers and 25 patients in critical condition, including those on ventilators, reportedly remain in the hospital. The patients in moderate to severe condition were forced to evacuate to the destroyed and non-functional Indonesian Hospital. @WHO is deeply concerned for their safety. This raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital comes after escalating restrictions on access for WHO and partners, and repeated attacks on or near the facility since early October. Such hostilities and the raids are undoing all our efforts and support to keep the facility minimal functional. The systematic dismantling of the health system in Gaza is a death sentence for tens of thousands of Palestinians in need of health care. This horror must end and health care must be protected. Ceasefire!

This morning’s raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital has put this last major health facility in North #Gaza out of service. Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burnt and destroyed during the raid.

Gisèle Pelicot has rewritten her story – and electrified women all over the world. But what about men? | Rebecca Solnit This was an extraordinary response to unimaginable crimes. Yet true change will only come when men engage with the culture that led us here, says Guardian US columnist Rebecca Solnit

"Until men engage earnestly and honestly with the pervasiveness of sexual assault and the aspects of the culture that celebrate and normalise it, not enough will change. The criminal justice system cannot change culture and consciousness; that happens elsewhere."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The little 'ding' on Teams when one 'completes' a task is strangely motivating when one has 1 hour 21 minutes left in the 2024 working year.

Beautiful, generous, strangely helpful.

At the NIHR PRU on Reproductive Health, we are seeking 4 people with lived experience of accessing reproductive health services to help shape a public event on Reproductive Health Data in Summer 2025. Find out more and apply here by Jan 8 2025: www.coproductioncollective.co.uk/news/opportu...

I haven't yet quite got out of the habit of clicking over to 'the other place' when need distraction, and the amount of junk is amazing. It's giving me a whole new insight into the kind of internet lots of people must experience: speculation, conspiracies, slander, and deep fakes. Astounding.